GREG SULLIVAN COLUMN: Durfee grad Dupont shines at college meet

Durfee High graduate sets meet record in weight throw; Durfee plays at 6:30 tonight; Buckwheat's son; so much more

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The Herald News, Fall River, MA

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Posted Feb. 23, 2014 at 9:12 PM
Updated Feb 24, 2014 at 11:34 PM

Posted Feb. 23, 2014 at 9:12 PM
Updated Feb 24, 2014 at 11:34 PM

FALL RIVER

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Durfee High graduate Tresley Dupont starred at the Northeast-10 Track & Field Championships on Saturday at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.

The Tiverton resident and Southern Connecticut State University junior won the weight throw in 62 feet, 25 inches (18.90 metes), breaking the previous meet record (60-10.75) by more than a foot. Fittingly, Dupont was named the meet’s outstanding field performer. Dupont is ranked 12th nationally in NCAA Division 2 and has qualified for the nationals in two weeks in Winston Salem, N.C. Dupont also took fourth in the shot put (14.99 meters) at NE-10.

Dupont’s efforts helped SCSU to the team championship.

--- Greater Fall River basketball fans had to be happy to see how the South Sectional schedule was pieced together. They do not have to pick between watching Bishop Connolly or Durfee, nor miss out on the Durfee girls, at least not for a while.

In boys’ basketball, Durfee hosts Bridgewater-Raynham tonight (Monday) and would next play Wednesday at Needham. The top seed in Division 4, defending state champion Connolly is off until Thursday when it would play Nantucket or Old Colony. The Durfee girls, meanwhile, play at home on Tuesday against Needham.

Note for high school hoops fans. The new normal starting time for playoff games is 6:30 p.m., a half hour earlier than we’ve been used to for decades. So, the rule is (until the semifinals), starting time 6:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted.

--- Fall River was represented at the Winter Games in Sochi. City native Stan Wong was one of the U.S. Olympic team’s athletic trainers. If there is a U.S. trainers’ hall of fame, Stan would get in on the first ballot.

--- A little disappointed in Ed Rodrigues, the former New Bedford High basketball coach and current director of athletics at Wareham High School, for failing to exercise full disclosure when sharing an interesting story.

A few years ago, during a baseball game at New Bedford where he was doing the public address chores and/or the scoreboard, Rodrigues mentioned to me that in his youth, he had played for a New Bedford youth baseball team that competed in the PONY World Series. In the WS, New Bedford played a Pomona, Calif. team whose lineup included then future USC superstar tailback Anthony Davis.

When I mentioned that story to him a couple of weeks ago at Wareham High, Rodrigues finally spilled the beans. Another member of that Pomona team was none other than Buckwheat’s son. Of course, we’re talking about Buckwheat (real name Billie Thomas), one of the stars of the famous 1930s-40’s comedy “The Little Rascals. Rodrigues played against Buckwheat Jr.

Now I’m left to wonder what other semi-celebrity once removed may have played for Pomona that year. Shemp’s grandson? Fay Wray’s grand nephew? Let us know, Ed.

Page 2 of 2 - --- We recently lost one of the longtime familiar faces in Fall River youth sports with the passing of Joe Saravo. For years he was Fall River’s Little League Baseball boss man.

--- The annual Petrillo Cup wrestling match pitting Durfee against Somerset Berkley Regional did not disappoint. In the true macho mentality of wrestling, the meet went on even though significant snow was falling. Durfee’s Justin Martinho clinched the match with a lightning-quick reversal in the final seconds, turning a one-point deficit into a one-point win. One of the sidelight highlights was listening to Durfee coaches Chris Antao and Nate Valcourt yelling at some of their wrestlers in Spanish (or some linguistic hybrid resembling Spanish).

--- Bishop Connolly hoops certainly finished strong, defeating Division 3 power Martha’s Vineyard in the Cougars’ regular-season finale. Vineyard is the lone team to beat Bishop Feehan this year. Feehan is the top seed in Division 2 South.